


I’ll sing you a lullaby

by Whatisthiswhatamidoing



Series: Like pulling teeth [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Edwin Jarvis' good parenting, F/M, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I will make that into a tag or god help me, Implied abuse, Kid Tony, Kid Tony Stark, Maria Stark's A+ Parenting, Maria Stark's Bad Parenting, Neglect, Protective Jarvis, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22240012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whatisthiswhatamidoing/pseuds/Whatisthiswhatamidoing
Summary: in between being called into work on his day off, and having to help with the preparations of Maria's next party, Jarvis is having a rotten day.but there's a certain toddler having an even worse one.orJarvis makes a mistake, and Tony deals with the repercussions
Relationships: Ana Jarvis/Edwin Jarvis, Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Maria Stark & Tony Stark
Series: Like pulling teeth [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1523075
Comments: 8
Kudos: 262
Collections: Tony Stark Has A Heart (deal with it)





	I’ll sing you a lullaby

**Author's Note:**

> hi, I'm tired and vomited this out

Jarvis’s first sign that it was a bad day was the moment the phone trilled and ripped him out of peaceful dozing. Without getting out of bed, he swung his hand around until it found the phone.

“Hmph...Hello?” He mumbled, finding it a great challenge to peel his eyelids open.

“Jarvis, Maria's having another party tonight, and our chief mary called in sick, can you come in?”

“I’m…sorry?”

“she had to go home, since her kid got sick. Can you take over her shift?”

“Oh, but..” he glanced wistfully behind himself where his wife was dozing. This was supposed to be his day off with Ana. On Saturdays they dozed around until noon, and then went for a walk in the park. It had been over a week since they had last done so, since Anthony got sick and Jarvis didn’t trust the starks to take care of him. What made him feel guiltier was that he knew she would say yes, she was far too understanding like that

“Edwin?” Ana stirred, and he kissed her forehead in apology. ”What’s wrong?” she mumbled.

”they’re asking me to come into work today, dear.”

Her face scrunched up in distaste “but it’s your day off.”

‘I know, darling.” He stroked her hair in regret and Ana sighed.

“Oh...” She groaned. “That's fine. Give Anthony a kiss from me will you?” she let herself fall back onto the bed, snuggling up with the nice cool sheets. Jarvis dearly wished to be her at that moment.

When nothing more was said, Jarvis turned back to the woman waiting on the phone.

“I’ll be there in half an hour.”

“Great” She said, and promptly hung up.

* * *

His foot barely had the time to cross the threshold before a toddler attached himself to Jarvis’s waist.

“My tummy hurts” Anthony said, in lieu of greeting. 

“Well, that’s no good.” Jarvis mumbled absentmindedly as he set upon the meticulous task of walking without stepping on the four year old wrapped around his waist. He made sure he smiled down at Anthony so he wouldn't think Jarvis was ignoring him. The child was insecure.  _ Far  _ too insecure. “Why don't you ask your parents to make you feel better?”

Anthony sighed and wiped his snotty nose against Jarvis’s expensive trousers. “I can’t, daddy yelled at me when I tried. He has a hung-, a hang, a h-hung-over.”

While Anthony tripped over the unfamiliar word Jarvis groaned internally. The stark mansion was already a war ground before hosting a party, and doing all of it while Howard was nursing a hangover was the cherry on top of what was looking to be an exhausting day.

Still, there was no reason to let Anthony know that, “you have a tummy ache and your father has a headache? This family is falling apart!”

Anthony giggled over that for a good five minutes while Jarvis started working. He gave Anthony some medicine, left some advil out for Howard, and set the tables. He even let Anthony help put the wine glasses out, although he had made sure that he held them with a cloth instead of directly touching glass with his sticky hands.

It was slowly piling up, though. Soon Jarvis would need to go into the kitchen and there was no way he was bringing a four-year old into _ that  _ chaotic mess. 

“Angela, could you-”

“No, sorry Jarvis, I'm busy.”

“Mark? Could-”

“I'm no good with babies, Jarvis, you know that.”

“Er…” Getting a bit frantic now, he practically jogged into a hallway and nearly collided with- _ Maria. _

“Maria could you take Anthony, I really need to go and prepare some things in the kitchen.”

“Oh.” Maria said distantly, and made no move to collect Anthony from his arms. 

Maria was a puzzle Jarvis could never hope to unwravel. Jarvis knew Howard before he met Maria. One could say they were even friends. So he saw how Maria– there was no better word for it–  _ pursued  _ Howard. It was a common story, a self made millionaire who needed to find a woman and settle down, a woman with connections who needed a man with money. It was a symbiotic relationship, Jarvis supposed, and the best outcome considering the man Howard turned out to be. At least Maria wouldn't be hurt by his scorn for anyone he considered as lesser than him.

The same couldn’t be said for their son, however. From what Jarvis could tell, Maria seemed to have no idea how to feel about her son. She didn't want him, Jarvis knew for certain. Howard and Maria only came together to conceive him because, simply put, it was expected of them. Whether they loved Anthony however, was a whole other can of worms. Howard claimed he did, that his rough treatment of Anthony was only ‘to prepare him for the real world, Jarvis,’ that he only did it because he loved tony. Which, Jarvis knew, was a load of bollocks. 

Maria, on the other hand, seemed to change her mind depending on the time of day, the circumstances, and what position the moon was in. she would ignore Anthony for weeks, yell at him for making too much noise, and then turn around and not allow him to leave her sight for days. 

Whether they loved him however, was irrelevant. Because between Howards abuse, and Maria’s indecision, they were raising an attention-starved boy, with next to no self esteem and an unwavering belief that people’s love for him was entirely conditional, no matter how much he loved them back.

And he did love them. He constantly sought for their attention, showed Howard all the little cardboard inventions he made, and practically vibrated with excitement whenever Maria deemed him worthy enough for a quick kiss on the forehead. Jarvis dearly did not want to hoist Anthony off on her, but he was getting desperate and Maria was the lesser of two evils. It would only be for an hour or two anyway.

After a beat or two Maria sighed “Oh, fine,” she pulled Anthony from his arms and set him on the floor, leaving him to subtly grip on her skirt for some reassurance. Spending the last ten minutes with nobody wanting to take care of him had left him quiet and insecure. Jarvis loathed to leave him alone, but he needed to do his job.

“I will be back in an hour or so, ma’am.”

Maria scowled at him “you can come back anytime you want, he’s  _ my  _ son after all, not your and Ana’s”

Jarvis bit back a retort at the obvious jab at his and Ana’s inability to have children and let her saunter off with Anthony scurrying behind her.

Jarvis sighed. He was  _ so  _ looking forward to spending the evening with Ana once his shift was over.

* * *

Jarvis stopped in the middle of the hallway to give his aching legs a break from the constant motion they’d been in for hours. If he were working for anyone else he would’ve quit, and four years ago he nearly had. He was all ready to go, had found another employer and had said goodbye to all his coworkers.

But then Anthony was born, and as soon as he held the boy in his arms, had seen his tiny fists held near his scrunched up baby face as all infants did, Jarvis knew he just couldn't do it. The stark household was already toxic, Howard had made it a mission to find captain america, or drown in alcohol trying, and Maria was in no shape to care for a child.

The boy’s wellbeing, and possibly even survival fell on Jarvis’s shoulders, or at least it felt that way, and Jarvis knew he wasn’t a good person. His years in the air force had ensured that, but there was no way he was going to abandon a child to that household, to become as cold as Maria and as cruel as Howard. There was just no way.

He felt his eyes starting to water, so he took that as his que to get up from his crouch and stretch his muscles. It should be time for his lunch break now, he belatedly thought, and checked the clock to confirm it.

...Only to find that it was half-past seven pm.

Right, Of course, he remembered now, this wasn't his shift, it was Mary's and her shift started late and ended early, which means he only had half an hour left before he got to go home. 

He had spent a full five minutes feeling happy about that, before he remembered. Oh god, Anthony. Jarvis had left him alone with Maria for a good six hours.

Fueled with panic, Jarvis rushed to Maria’s room only to stop just outside her door when he heard sniffling coming from a nearby closet.

His stomach sinking, he slowly made his way to the closet, hoping against hope that it was all just a big misunderstanding, Maria was neglectful, and sometimes outright cruel to Anthony, but of course she wouldn’t do this to her own son. She wouldn’t stoop so low. (never mind that that was what he used to think about Howard.)

He tentatively reached for the key still in the lock, and twisted it, pulling the door open. His heart broke when he was met with the sight of Anthony, crying as quietly as he could while holding his mother’s jacket as close to him as he could. It positively shattered when he realised it was the one she was wearing this afternoon. It must still smell of her perfume

The child looked up at him with big, shiny eyes, and Jarvis instantly put on the most convincing smile he could muster, despite the boiling rage rising in his gut at Maria stark. It was his fault Anthony was in there.

“What are you doing in there, silly billy?” a risky question, but Anthony was calmer when he had something to focus on, and Jarvis needed to know what happened.

“I-I-I” the boy started, and swallowed. “I was bad.” he broke off into a sob, and Jarvis needed to find out what happened, now, before Anthony became too upset.

“I’m sure what you did wasn’t that bad, what happened?” keep the tone light, reassure Anthony that the punishment absolutely did not fit the crime. Jarvis was ashamed to say he was becoming quite an expert now.

“I was  _ bad _ ,” he sobbed as quietly as he could. “I was too noisy when mommy was fixing her makeup, and I dropped her blush and I-It broke into little pieces everywhe-ere,” he broke off into sobs and Jarvis cringed internally, he should’ve seen this coming, Maria was always fretful before a party. “She hates me,” Anthony whimpered.

There was nothing Jarvis could honestly say, he had no idea how Maria felt about her child, she to switch between being a doting, loving mother to wanting nothing to do with him. Jarvis struggled with her anger at Jarvis trying to keep her away from Tony, and her sudden disinterest when he inevitably caved. If her behaviour already left Jarvis on his toes, then he couldn’t imagine how Anthony felt, being the target of her varying over-protectiveness and neglect.

Mindless comfort seemed to be the best option, and ultimately, the only thing he could do.’I’m sure that’s not true,” he opened his arms in invitation. “Would master stark perhaps, like a hug?”

Anthony sniffled and stared at his arms with a certain reverence no child should have in response to comfort. “but I'm  _ bad, _ ” he whispered.

“Not to me you aren't,”

There was a moment where Anthony seemed to be on the verge of agreeing, before he shook his head and looked away. “No, I'm bad. I don't deserve it.”

“...” Jarvis’s heart broke in two. What type of poison had Anthony’s mother put in his head to make the boy believe he doesn’t deserve comfort? Through experience, he knew that there was absolutely no point in arguing with Anthony. The boy was just as stubborn as his parents

“...well, even bad children deserve to be tucked in when it’s late at night. Aren’t you tired?” 

There was a pause, then a sullen ”...yeah.” He led Anthony to his room, nearly tripping over the jacket that master stark was still hugging to his chest, and tucked him in bed.

And, well, if he sneaked the kiss Ana made him promise to give to Anthony, as he fluffed up his pillows, then nobody had to know.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed my midnight rambles, ya'll. sleep tight


End file.
